Party bags and no inspiration of what to put in them

[Frangipanipie]

7yr old’s party this weekend and trying to work out party bags. She would like the usual ‘tat’, I don’t really want to buy plastic nik nacks because they get used once and that’s it. She has been to parties where she gets a book and a cupcake but all the children looked a bit disheartened at the books at the end. Ideas gratefully received please!

Spy pens (the ones with invisible ink and a uv torch in the lid for reading messages) and a notebook work well - not expensive, fairly popular, don't immediately break.

Little craft kits from hobbycraft (ideally something reduced) or from Baker Ross (the make your own charm bracelet set was the most popular here).

Sheet of stickers, sweets, bubbles and a slice of cake.

Seeds and a colourful flower pot
10 books for £10 in The Works and then just choose which one they want

DS once got a strip of plaque disclosing tablets in a party bag. I was a bit dubious but actually they were very popular with both of my DC.

Sorry my list was one of, not all of! All things we’ve received in party bags this year so ie a football and a piece of cake OR a frisbee and a piece of cake

My DS(7) and 100% of his friends do not want a book or seeds or a toothbrush or a tasteful cotton bag to colour in themselves but with nothing in it, the plaster character they have half heartedly decorated during the party, or those little puzzle or colouring books with cheap colouring pencils or crayons which barely colour, especially on the greyish paper of those little books.

They like: sweet cones, party snaps, cool looking tattoos (not babyish ones), those big balloons on an elastic band, popping candy, those little men you throw and they stick to the ceiling, fidget spinners, poppits, water bombs and some stickers (but not all).

Just a cupcake would be fine if you stick an Oreo or something on the top of it.

I found some spy pens and pads on Amazon which I put in my daughters party bags and they went down really well! Few sweets and that was it

Packet of Smarties and a Hot Wheels car.

Water balloons were so popular when my DS was little. Just one bag each and a slice of cake.

Water balloons (or regular balloons) are terrible for the environment.

for the girls I did Beatrix potter sticker book, fairy wand, unicorn party hat, haribo small bag & smal kinder choc for the girls (2.50each)

for the boys Batman sticker book, punch balloon & whoopee cushion & same sweets & choc (2.40each)

others I’ve been to recently have been …

choose a book & bar of choc
personalised choc bars with pic of birthday girl/boy on
watee balloons/bubbles/sweets
pamper pack - nail varnish, face mask etc

not had plastic tat that don’t last the day for ages!

Second Baker Ross - we got a bunch of mini craft sets - www.bakerross.co.uk/ice-cream-wooden-keyring-bag-dangler-kits, www.bakerross.co.uk/rainbow-wooden-keyring-bag-dangler-kits and www.bakerross.co.uk/wooden-bookmark-cross-stitch-kits. This was for a bunch of 10 year olds.

This depresses me because a lot of what is being suggested here is the type of gift I would get for the actual birthday child.
Surely a frisbee or football is a proper birthday gift - not a party bag filler.
Same with the craft sets. I often bought small craft sets as the actual gift.

One year we put in a wind ball for our cricket mad DS's birthday party bag with a couple of bits of plastic tat - the dads of the girls who attended absolutely loved that. Was very funny to see them!

Those colour in cloth party bags with a few washable marker pens and some sweets inside.

Ime most DC are underwhelmed to be handed a book at the end of a party. The more polite ones will manage to hide this and thank you politely but you won't get the joy you'd get if you hand them a sweetie cone.

My 7 year old had those mini scratch art bookmarks in her party bags which were a hit. I got them in multipacks from ebay. Also mini squishies ( big tub from ebay) and mini lego erasers which the kids seem to like too.

Rex London are good for party bag stuff. I don't like plastic tat either so I usually go for:

Sweets
Sachet of hot chocolate
Pencil crayons
Small notebook
Wildflower seeds
Slice of cake

It’s funny how different different groups of friends are…

DS1 doesn’t eat sweets and would have struggled at 5 to be polite if given a sweetie cone (at 9 he’s now gracious). He and his mates would be over the moon with seeds or books.

DS2 is all about sweets and he and his mates would be lukewarm at bing given books and delighted with new stationery…

Neither DC would like snaps, they wouldn’t get the point of them and DS2 would worry they’d scare the cats.

I try to get them to tell me well in advance what they want and then buy a bargain…

Get big/cheap things so party bag looks fuller:

Big slice of cake
Flump
Sherbet fountain
Moam bloxx

Then get a few little bits - temp tattoos, caps were popular one year, you know those gunpowder things you hit with a stone, party popper if you want parents to detest you for ever more because their DC let it off in the car driving home. As my DD's birthday was near Christmas I used to use my Boots points to buy multipacks of impulse and lip gloss and they got one each. Impulse also passes the big-item-to-make-you-look-generous test.

Omg. Me too. I would be mortified if one of my kids go an £5 voucher in a party bag.

Sweetie cones end up more expensive than just a bar of chocolate. I am alarmed at how much people spend on party bags.

Sweetie cones end up more expensive than just a bar of chocolate.

They work out not too bad if you make them yourself and fill the bottom half with rainbow drops - it's more about the presentation, because no child needs a whole cone of solid sweets.

I must be really tight fisted, I try to budget about £1 total each for the party bag fillings! It sounds like a lot of people spend several times that! DD is 8, but what went down well at her party for the bags (and is always popular in the ‘jolly jars’ at the school fairs) was: bendy pencils, fun rubbers, pots of bubble liquid, sweeties, sheets of stickers, transfer tattoos, rocket balloons, jewellery (eg bracelets), hair accessories, puzzle books. All available cheaply in multipacks that can then be separated out. Also avoids the issue of loads of plastic tat that will be broken by the time the guests get home, and is basically just landfill. Also pretty coloured paper bags instead of plastic party bags.

I used to do a lucky dip as the kids left rather than a party bag, they ended up with something a bit bigger and no plastic tat.

Anything but sweets.